Stomach Cramping and Diarrhea. Terrified!

[mattpenny94]

Hi everyone, I'm a 30 year old male who has suffered from IBS for most of my life, however the symptoms I'm experiencing at the moment, I haven't experienced to this extent before.

For the last 3 days, I have been experiencing intense stomach cramps that are almost immediately followed by severe, watery, yellow diarrhea.

Yesterday I had to rush to the toilet around 10 times!

I have no other symptoms like nausea or fever, just these awful cramps and explosive diarrhea.

I was hoping today things would improve but unfortunately the same symptoms are taking place.

I'm now at a point where I'm convinced I have something serious going on namely either Bowel cancer, stomach cancer or pancreatic cancer.

I have done an online consultation with my GP but it's not likely I will hear back before Monday.

It looks like I've got a difficult weekend in store for me and I wondered if anybody had any advice or reassurance in the meantime.

Thanks so much guys!

[BlueIris]

This honestly sounds like a bug to me. Pretty sure cancer doesn't come on out of nowhere.

[mattpenny94]

Hi, thank you for the reply. I can definitely see the logic in what your saying here. I ruled out a bug because I have no symptoms like nausea or fever. Can it still be a bug even without those symptoms. Probably a stupid question but I think my brain is still in cancer mode

[BlueIris]

Absolutely it can be a bug, or even just anxiety. When I'm panicked I can sometimes have your exact symptoms for weeks on end.

[mattpenny94]

Thanks so much for this info. I'm very well versed in my stomach being triggered by anxiety and I often get flare ups during stressful times. The reason I was particularly worried was, I've never had it quite like this. I will look at this like it is a bug and just hope it passes soon

[Darksky]

Yes, I’ve certainly had bugs with neither fever or nausea.

Think horses not zebras. Which is a little saying I use a lot. Basically think of the obvious and dismiss the unlikely.
Blue is right, cancer doesn’t suddenly appear like that. You have a history of IBS and most likely you have a bug.

[mattpenny94]

"Horses not zebras" such a great analogy thank you. I think my brain seems to go straight for the zebras which I need to work on. I appreciate what you're both saying about cancer just appearing. I think when I got officially diagnosed with IBS a few years ago, part of me was paranoid that the doctor missed something more serious (I only had fit test and fecal calprotectin stool tests). My health anxiety is telling me that I've actually had cancer all this time and these new symptoms that I've posted about today is just another development in the cancer progressing rather than just a sudden onset of new symptoms. I'm also aware of how illogical this sounds but sometimes the health worries have a louder voice than reason.

[Lana]

mattpenny94, have you recently been on antibiotics?

[mattpenny94]

Hi. No I haven't taken antibiotics in years.